Family Rise: Beginning with Grandfather.

Chapter 778 Escape Technique
Everything is difficult at the beginning, but once you succeed once, it is much easier to succeed again.

Four more days passed, and after seven failed attempts, Yang Zhengshan successfully refined another batch of Jade Marrow Pills, this time producing fourteen pills.

Subsequently, Yang Zhengshan continued to refine Jade Marrow Pills. Gradually, his success rate stabilized at around 20%. He could successfully refine two batches in ten attempts, with each batch yielding about fifteen pills.

Such results seem impressive, but in reality, it's a losing proposition.

It should be noted that Yang Zhengshan needs to spend two hundred spirit stones to refine one Jade Marrow Pill, and five times would cost one thousand spirit stones. In the end, only fifteen pills can be made, with each Jade Marrow Pill costing an average of sixty-six spirit stones.

The cost is exceptionally high, even higher than the selling price of the Qi-Nourishing Pills from the Lingxiu Three Sects.

The price of a Qi-Nourishing Pill is fifty spirit stones, and that's the selling price; its cost is estimated to be around twenty spirit stones.

Although Yang Zhengshan's Jade Marrow Pill should be better than the Qi Nourishing Pill of the Lingxiu Three Sects, the cost difference is too great. If it were to be sold, it would probably be difficult to compete with the Qi Nourishing Pill of the Lingxiu Three Sects.

However, since Yang Zhengshan couldn't buy a large quantity of Qi-Nourishing Pills, he could only refine Jade Marrow Pills to satisfy his cultivation needs.

Moreover, the more times he refines pills, the higher his success rate will be, so the current loss is still very necessary.

Furthermore, Yang Zhengshan plans to refine Foundation Establishment Pills in the future.

Foundation Establishment Pills are essential for immortal cultivators to establish their foundation. Without Foundation Establishment Pills, it is almost impossible to establish a foundation. Even with Foundation Establishment Pills, the probability of success only increases by 30%.

Yang Zhengshan is now using the Jade Marrow Pill as practice, preparing for the future refining of Foundation Establishment Pills.

The medicinal materials needed to refine the Foundation Establishment Pill are not common ones. Many of them are ones that Yang Zhengshan has never seen before, but only knows about in the pharmacopoeia of the ancient ruins.

Although Yang Zhengshan is still a long way from reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, he has already begun preparations for it.

"Foundation Building Pills must be refined, and we need to prepare several more!"

"Failure to establish a foundation may damage the dantian. Although it won't be fatal, it will take several years to recover. The more times a cultivator attempts to establish a foundation, the greater the chance of failure. Basically, if one fails three times, they are cut off from foundation establishment altogether!"

"It would be best to succeed on the first try!"

"Besides Foundation Establishment Pills, I also need to prepare some other spiritual items. Martial artists can use spiritual items to forge their spiritual foundation, and immortal cultivators should be able to do the same."

"However, the foundation building of immortal cultivators is much more difficult than that of martial artists. The difficulty of foundation building for martial artists mainly lies in introducing the spiritual energy of spiritual objects into the body, and then using spiritual energy to cleanse and temper the flesh, bones, and internal organs of the whole body!"

"For immortal cultivators to establish their foundation, they need to shatter their dantian and qi sea, completely connecting the dantian and qi sea with all the meridians and acupoints in their body. In addition, their divine soul needs to be strong enough!"

"There's no need to worry about the soul. My soul should be strong enough after cultivating the 'Void Refining Scripture'. What I lack is the violent spiritual power that can shatter the dantian and qi sea, which is the Foundation Establishment Pill!"

Yang Zhengshan sat by the lake, holding the formula for the Foundation Establishment Pill and pondering it carefully.

This requires advance preparation; the earlier the better. You can't just cram at the last minute.

"The medicinal materials needed for the Foundation Building Pill!"

He stroked his beard, a slight smile playing on his lips. "We should be able to find most of them in the ancient ruins!"

For a cultivation sect, the most important thing is various resources. For cultivators, Foundation Establishment is undoubtedly the most important hurdle on the path to immortality. Success means stepping into the gate of immortality, while failure means standing outside the gate.

A cultivation sect would certainly prepare Foundation Establishment Pills for its disciples, and would naturally cultivate the various medicinal materials needed to refine Foundation Establishment Pills.

Although that ancient sect has disappeared, many of the resources it left behind still remain, and it has undergone ten thousand years of wild growth.

Although the three sects and twelve families of Lingxiu would raid the area every ten years, they would always leave some behind.

"There are less than six years until the ancient array opens. Hehe, I swear I won't give up until I've emptied this ancient array!" Yang Zhengshan's eyes gleamed with anticipation.

Last time, there was no other way; if he didn't come out, he could only be trapped inside the ancient formation.

But things are different now. He possesses the portal to the grotto-heaven. As long as he places the portal within the ancient remnant array, the ancient remnant array will become his backyard. He can enter whenever he wants and take whatever he wants.

Yang Zhengshan is not yet able to refine the Foundation Establishment Pill, but he can familiarize himself with the formula and practice the techniques and procedures for refining it. This will save him the trouble of figuring it out step by step later.

With the Jade Marrow Pill, Yang Zhengshan's cultivation efficiency immediately improved significantly, his internal mana became increasingly abundant, and even the nurturing of the Azure Thunder Pearl accelerated considerably.

Although the Azure Thunder Pearl is only a one-time spell, it is also the foundation for the subsequent spells and supernatural powers of the Azure Thunder Technique. Yang Zhengshan nurtured the Azure Thunder Pearl not only to have a trump card, but also to lay the foundation for cultivating the subsequent spells and supernatural powers of the Azure Thunder Technique.

On Lingquan Mountain, the alternation of dawn and dusk is like sand slipping through one's fingers. Three years have quietly passed by in the murmuring stream, and in a daze, the Qinghua Thunder Pearl has become as real as a physical object.

Within Yang Zhengshan's spiritual consciousness, a thunder bead the size of a thumb was slowly rotating in his liver palace. Divine thunder swirled around the bead, carrying two completely opposite auras: one of vibrant life and the other of destructive violence.

At this time, Yang Zhengshan's body also underwent a tremendous change. He had cultivated the "Wood Transformation Body Nourishing Method" to the point of perfection, taking root in the earth, transforming his body into wood, bringing withered wood back to life, and restoring flesh to bones.

Every cell in his body was full of vitality and life. As long as he stood on the ground, he could feel waves of rich wood-attribute spiritual energy coming from his feet, nourishing every inch of his body.

He even had many strange sensations, feeling as if he could transform into a large tree and grow in this world at any moment.

On Lingquan Mountain Plain, Yang Zhengshan stood in the forest of spirit fruit trees. He opened his arms, closed his eyes slightly, and felt the gifts from the earth, the pure wood-attribute spiritual energy around him, and the joyful and excited emotions emanating from the spirit fruit trees.

Indeed, he could sense the emotions of the spirit fruit tree, as if these plants had turned into playful children, cheering and jumping around him.

He even felt that he could become one with these plants and trees.

With a thought, he transformed into a wisp of green smoke and disappeared into the ground. Then, his spiritual senses flowed, sensing everything around him.

He did not disappear, nor did he leave the Spirit Source Land. He did not even use the power of the Spirit Source Land's core. He simply merged his body into the plants based on his own senses.

A gentle breeze stirred, causing the branches and leaves of the tall Three Yellow Plum to sway slightly, and then his body miraculously grew out of the thick trunk of the Three Yellow Plum.

That's right, it grew out.

First the head, then the back of the neck, then the torso and limbs.

He looked down at his legs; his calves were still inside the tree, but he could sense that he could walk out of the tree at any time if he wanted to.

The feeling was mysterious, as if he could turn trees into a part of his own body.

"The Wood-Transforming Health Cultivation Method has such profound mysteries?"

A look of inquiry appeared in Yang Zhengshan's eyes.

To be buried in the earth is to become a root, to transform one's body into wood, to bring back spring to withered trees, and to allow flesh to grow back on bones.

According to the description in the Wood Transformation Body Cultivation Method, he should at most be able to transform himself into grass and trees, not be able to merge himself into grass and trees. But now he has done it, and he has done it very naturally, as if it were his instinct.

"It's probably not just because of the health cultivation method; the Green Wood Longevity Scripture is also involved!"

"If a martial artist were to cultivate this body-cultivating technique, they would probably only be able to transform their body into wood. But I have also cultivated the Green Wood Longevity Scripture, which is why I possess such profound abilities!"

"This ability is mysterious, but not as magical as I imagined. It should be some kind of escape technique!"

"That's right, this Wood Transformation Body Cultivation Method might be a body-refining technique derived from the escape techniques of immortal cultivators!"

Just as Yang Zhengshan was lost in thought, Yu Qingyi came closer and, seeing his feet embedded in the tree trunk, couldn't help but show a look of astonishment.

"This is you!"

Yang Zhengshan came to his senses and exclaimed, "Haha, this seems to be a kind of magic that is derived from the cultivation of the body-nourishing method after it has been perfected!"

Yu Qingyi stepped forward, touching Yang Zhengshan's leg and tapping the trunk of the Three Yellow Plum tree. "Strange, how did you do that?"

"It's probably because of the special nature of magic!" Yang Zhengshan was also completely confused.

Although he can use this ability, he does not understand the principle behind it.

"Have you mastered the art of health preservation?" Yu Qingyi asked.

Yang Zhengshan emerged from the tree trunk and reached out to put his arm around her slender waist. "Hmm, it's already mastered, but I think there should be follow-up techniques for this health cultivation method."

In fact, the Wood Transformation Body Cultivation Method they now possess is already complete, because Yu Qingyi obtained the Wood Transformation Body Cultivation Method in the Transmission Hall of the Ancient Relic Array.

However, this Wood Transformation Body Cultivation Method is designed for martial artists, not immortal cultivators.

It must have originated from a cultivation method of immortality, so Yang Zhengshan felt that this health-preserving method should have follow-up techniques.

Yu Qingyi didn't think too much about it and said, "Then it's my turn to cultivate this health-preserving method!"

"It's my fault for delaying your cultivation, my wife!" Yang Zhengshan looked at Yu Qingyi with apologetic eyes.

Cultivating the Wood Transformation Body Nourishment Method requires a large number of wood-attribute spiritual fruits, and they must be wood-attribute spiritual fruits of the same origin.

Currently, only two kinds of spiritual fruits in the Spirit Source Land are suitable for cultivating this method: the Wood Spirit Fruit and the Jade Spirit Peach.

Wood Spirit Fruit is too ordinary and not very effective for cultivating the Wood Transformation Body Nourishing Technique. On the contrary, Jade Spirit Peach is very suitable.

However, there are not many Jade Spirit Peaches that have already borne fruit in the Spirit Source Land now, only a little over a hundred trees.

More than a hundred Jade Spirit Peaches were not enough for Yang Zhengshan and Yu Qingyi to cultivate the Wood Transformation Body Nourishing Technique at the same time, so Yu Qingyi had to prioritize Yang Zhengshan's cultivation and she herself stopped cultivating the Wood Transformation Body Nourishing Technique.

"There's nothing we can do about it," Yu Qingyi said, shaking her head slightly.

Yang Zhengshan sighed slightly. After acquiring the cultivation technique, resources became the biggest limitation for everyone's cultivation.

The Spirit Source Land is rich in resources, with countless kinds of spiritual plants, but after all, it has only existed for sixty years, and its foundation is still too shallow.

Some low-grade spiritual herbs and fruits are fine, but the Spirit Source Land can cultivate almost as many as you want.

However, many high-quality spiritual herbs and fruits cannot be cultivated in the Spirit Source Land at present.

In particular, many spiritual herbs require hundreds or even thousands of years to mature, and even the most extraordinary spiritual source cannot cultivate such herbs.

And pills!

The Jade Marrow Pill is very useful to Yang Zhengshan, and equally useful to Yu Qingyi, but Yang Zhengshan is the only person in the Spirit Source Land who can refine the Jade Marrow Pill.

Yang Zhengshan could give Yu Qingyi a few pills to take, but he couldn't supply Yu Qingyi indefinitely. He couldn't give up his cultivation to refine pills for others every day.

“It’s time to train other immortal cultivators!” Yang Zhengshan said softly.

"What do you want to do?" Yu Qingyi looked at him.

Yang Zhengshan said, "Search for other geniuses with spiritual apertures, nurture them, and let them integrate into the Spirit Source Land!"

"Won't this take up your time?" Yu Qingyi asked.

It's not difficult to check if someone has a spiritual aperture; Yang Zhengshan only needs to use his spiritual sense to check three inches above the Baihui acupoint.

The problem is that it's easy to check one person, but it's not easy to check hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands of people.

Finding someone with spiritual abilities among tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of people is like finding a needle in a haystack.

"No, I've thought of a way to test whether someone possesses spiritual abilities, and this method doesn't require me to appear in person!"

Yang Zhengshan said.

"What method?" Yu Qingyi asked curiously.

“Just give the first volume of the ‘Green Wood Longevity Scripture’ to someone to cultivate. If they can get the basics down, it means that person has a spiritual aperture. If they can’t get the basics down, it means that person doesn’t have a spiritual aperture!” Yang Zhengshan said with a smile.

The "Azure Wood Longevity Scripture" is a cultivation method for immortals, which can only be practiced by those who possess spiritual apertures. The first volume is only the most basic introductory method. If a person can condense magical power within three months, it means that the person possesses spiritual apertures and can cultivate the immortal path. Otherwise, it means that the person does not have spiritual apertures.

Although this method takes longer, it eliminates the need for Yang Zhengshan to search for information personally and can be used on a large scale.

In fact, Yang Zhengshan had thought of this method long ago, but he had been holding back from using it. He originally wanted to wait until he could enter the ancient ruins again before implementing this method, because he wanted to obtain more cultivation techniques from the ancient ruins.

The Transmission Hall of the Ancient Ruins is very magical. Yang Zhengshan estimated that he would not be able to move the Transmission Hall into the Spirit Source Land, so he could only use the method of "plucking the wool" to get all the cultivation techniques in the Transmission Hall.

There should be many immortal cultivation techniques in the Transmission Hall, but he was afraid that after others cultivated the Azure Wood Longevity Scripture, they would only receive the Azure Wood Longevity Scripture or techniques related to it in the Transmission Hall.

Therefore, he has been hesitant about whether to use this method to find people with spiritual abilities.

However, he has now decided to try this method first. With so many people in Da'an and the vast sea area, he is bound to find some people with spiritual apertures. It doesn't matter if the first batch cultivates the Green Wood Growth Scripture. There will be a second and a third batch later. There is no need to wait for the ancient remnant array to be opened.

Moreover, the earlier one cultivates immortal cultivators, the greater the benefit to the Spirit Source Land.

In alchemy, weapon crafting, and formation techniques, immortal cultivators have an advantage over martial artists. While weapon crafting and formation techniques can be taken less seriously, alchemy talents should be cultivated as early as possible.

(End of this chapter)